United News of Bangladesh

BNP is confident of forming the next government with more than a two-thirds majority in the 13th national election, its Central Election Steering Committee spokesperson Mahdi Amin said on Thursday night. “Alhamdulillah, BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman has already been unofficially declared elected from two constituencies — Bogura-6 and Dhaka-17,” he told a press conference at the BNP Election Steering Committee office in Gulshan. Mahdi Amin alleged that since Wednesday night their political opponents had engaged in various irregularities, including vote rigging and unlawful occupation of polling centres. Despite this, he said, candidates contesting under the party’s electoral symbol, the ‘Sheaf of Paddy’, were leading by substantial margins in a large number of constituencies, with several already unofficially declared elected. “BNP, strengthened by the love and support of the people, will form the government by winning more than two-thirds of the seats, InshaAllah,” he said, adding that the party’s confidence was based on vote counts and detailed constituency-level data received so far. He alleged that incidents of irregularities, fraud and violence occurred in different parts of the country on polling day. He alleged that there were attempts at ‘election engineering’ in certain constituencies to favour specific candidates. Citing examples, he claimed, in Dhaka city, the counting of votes and announcement of results had been deliberately delayed in several constituencies, including Dhaka-8, Dhaka-11, Dhaka-13 and Dhaka-16. The BNP spokesperson also alleged that a particular political party had engaged in propaganda and violated the election code of conduct in an attempt to reduce the victory margins of BNP candidates, potentially affecting voter participation in some areas. Mahdi Amin congratulated voters across the country for casting their ballots and supporting their preferred candidates. Voting in Bangladesh’s national election concluded on Thursday in a largely peaceful atmosphere, with high hopes of restoring genuine democracy and securing a strong mandate for national reforms. Tarique Rahman wins both Dhaka-17, Bogura-6 seats The polling in Bangladesh began at 7:30am and continued until 4:30pm without interruption at 42,659 polling stations in 299 out of 300 constituencies, amid the deployment of nearly one million security personnel and another one million polling staff. Alongside the parliamentary election, voters also participated in a referendum to express their views through ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ votes on proposals for several constitutional amendments.

BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman is set to begin the second phase of his election campaign from Chattogram on Sunday, completing electioneering in Sylhet. “Our leader Tarique Rahman is travelling to Chattogram today as part of his election campaign. He will depart Dhaka at 7:35pm by air and spend the night in Chattogram,” said Mahdi Amin, spokesperson of BNP’s election steering committee. He made the remarks at a press briefing at the BNP Chairman’s Gulshan office on Saturday morning. Mahdi said Tarique will join a ‘Youth Policy Talk’ at a hotel in the port city with around 300 university students at 9:30am on Sunday. At the event, the BNP chief will outline his party’s policy proposals on education, employment, agriculture, health, women’s empowerment and the environment, among other issues, Mahdi added. BNP to ensure safety of Hindu community if elected: Mirza Fakhrul Later in the afternoon, Tarique will address a mass rally at the Chattogram Polo Ground. Following the Chattogram programmes, he will address campaign rallies at Feni Pilot School ground, Chauddagram High School ground in Cumilla, Sonagazi Digbazi Field, Daudkandi Central Eidgah ground, and Kanchpur Balur Math in Narayanganj. Tarique launched the first phase of his election campaign on January 22 from Sylhet’s Alia Madrasah ground and spoke at seven rallies in Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Kishoreganj, Narsingdi and Narayanganj the same day.

BNP will take an overall position in favour of ‘Yes’ in the upcoming referendum, which will be held alongside the 13th national parliamentary election on February 12. “When our parliamentary election candidates visited Dhaka, we told them that BNP will take a position in favour of ‘Yes’ in the referendum during the election campaign,” party Election Steering Committee spokesperson Mahdi Amin said on Wednesday. Speaking at a press briefing at BNP’s election office in Gulshan area, he also said the party has already informed all its members that, overall, BNP will take a position in favour of ‘Yes’ in the referendum. During the July Charter formulation process at the National Consensus Commission, Mahdi said BNP had a clear position and also recorded some notes of dissent, which the party still holds. He said the party has long worked to ensure accountability and transparency in governance and has pursued fundamental reforms through its 31-point reform outline. “For these reasons, we will stand for ‘Yes’ in the referendum,” Mahdi, who is also an adviser to the BNP Chairman, said. He explained that BNP believes notes of dissent and different opinions are natural in a democracy and will be discussed in Parliament.